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March 17, 2008

Radio Advertisers Are Wondering: Will Bain Make Internet Radio Work?

According to a report by Xconomy, "Bain Capital Ventures is the lead investor in n $8.6 million Series B funding round announced today for New York, NY-based TargetSpot, which helps advertisers create and place ads on streaming Internet radio stations."

You might recall that Bain is trying to buy Clear Channel Communications, which owns a boatload of terrestrial radio stations. So when we look at what Targetspot and Clearchannel can do together, we might be able to infer that there'll be a large push (finally) toward fully integrating the internet with traditional radio advertising, and/or making internet radio a profitable avenue for radio advertisers.

We've tested internet radio many times and so far it hasn't produced profitable results.

TargetSpot was "launched less than a year ago, gives advertisers access to over 500 Internet radio channels, including many owned by CBS Radio and Entercom Communications, two of the nation's top five radio networks. TargetSpot's Web-based platform allows advertisers to upload their own audio ads or record new ones; choose which stations, geographies, time of day, or audience demographic they wish to reach; and manage how much they spend on each campaign, starting at as little as $50."

Bain partner Jeffrey Glass had this to say about the investment: "TargetSpot has figured out a way to solve the one major problem with online radio, namely how to monetize this burgeoning field and turn it into a profitable revenue stream."

Posted by Jeff Small & Brett Astor at 12:56 PM | Permalink